


The Truth is More Bitter Than a Lie

by PenguinKiwis



Series: Penguin's Flash Fiction Fridays [27]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clone Wars (Star Wars), Flash Fiction, Gen, Kinda?, Mentions of Slavery, The War stars earlier AU, The clone slavery problem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:00:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29798484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenguinKiwis/pseuds/PenguinKiwis
Summary: The Captain was right, after all. And Plo Koon couldn't argue because of it— they were just children.
Relationships: Lissarkh & Bultar Swan, Plo Koon & Lissarkh & Bultar Swan
Series: Penguin's Flash Fiction Fridays [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178669
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	The Truth is More Bitter Than a Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Request: (submitted prompt) “It’s not often a Master allows you to decorate your chains. Is it General Koon or should I call you ‘Master’ like your other child Soldiers?"
> 
> This is slightly AU where TCW started waaay earlier, just so that I could have an excuse for Plo to actually have his Padawans.

War wore down on them all. Mace was fracturing at the edges, spending more time in Force exhaustion than not, Oppo's mastery with the force was being pushed with each encounter, darkening with each return to Coruscant. Eeth’s horns were chipped and too long but he had no time to file them down and even Even Peil was starting to get sick of the constant battling. Plo was no different. He was tired. Tired of seeing people around him die, tired of war, of blood, and of the pain felt through the force with each death.

Plo hated the system with which the Clones were instated with. Slavery. It was all just glorified slavery. Glorified slavery and sending _children_ into war, Plo knew as he waited with Bultar and Lissarkh standing to his right, waiting for the next... platoon to arrive. The 104th had sustained heavy losses, as had a few other companies of Clones, and the choice to combine and send them to the 104th had been made.

As the soldiers in pure white armor filed in, he saw eyes flicker over to the grays and reds of the 104th’s Commander on his other side— the grays and reds of the Wolfpack. The customary and socially mandated salutes were exchanged, the Captains of each of the Companies introducing themselves to him, Wolffe, and his Padawans and then they got to the last of the Companies. Knight Plun Kil’s former Company. The head of that Company sneered as Plo approached, giving Wolffe a once over and gazing at Lissarkh and Bultar, who donned vambraces with the Pack colors on them.

**“It’s not often a Master allows you to decorate your chains,”** the Captain said, tone filled with disdain, and Plo’s brows furrowed. “Captain Crag, now, **is it General Koon or should I call you ‘Master’ like your other child Soldiers?”**

He could feel the force around Lissarkh coiling, a sign she was about to jump to his defense, but he stopped her with a gentle pulse through their bond.

The comment _hurt,_ but really was the Captain wrong? The Clones were _children_. The Republic was sending _children to die for them_ and making the Order lead these children and their own to their deaths. Plo took a steadying breath, slamming his mental walls down before the hurt at the comment could leak out into the Force, to Bultar and Lissarkh.

“What you call me is up to you,” he told the Captain instead. “You may call me ‘bastard’ if that suits your tastes.” 

He bowed then, keeping his hands clasped behind his back before he turned. He could not change how the Captain felt, because he was right. The entire system was just glorified slavery and he couldn’t even fight back against it without being labeled a traitor by the Republic and causing more lives to be lost when they managed to remove him from his position on the front.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always found the whole clones and slavery thing an interesting problem so I hope you guys liked this take on it. 
> 
> Come bother me on my Writing Tumblr [here](https://penguinkiwi-writes.tumblr.com/) or on my main blog [here](https://penguinkiwi.tumblr.com/)


End file.
